Where’s Ryland Homes?
Five years ago, Ryland was one of a dozen builders that were dominant in Colorado homebuilding…just as the market headed into a cataclysm that would reduce output to a trickle from previous years. During 2009 and 2010 some of those builder names totally disappeared, never to be seen again. But Ryland wasn’t on that list….

Ryland Homes’ Ruth Rowley and Damian Story at Steel Ranch in Louisville, Colo.

“Coming into that market, we stopped buying ground,” recalls Colorado Division president Dan Nickless. “We were conservative, we never gave anything back to the bank and we made sure our homebuyers weren’t left high and dry. Now that’s put us in a position with no outside bank debt, ready to what we’re doing now.” more »

Why, for the first time in 150 years, have Coloradans picked a mayor of Denver to become governor? “Maybe,” suggests John Hickenlooper, “it’s that people realize Denver is something to be proud of.”

Governor-elect John Hickenlooper looks out from his transition office on Lincoln Street, a few blocks from where he’ll move into the Capitol Jan. 11.

After all, during the near-eight years he spent in the City and County Building, the former developer watched the Mile High bask in accolades — picked for the Democratic National Convention; rated sixth-best U.S. city for quality of life (Portfolio.com); among the “most sustainable metro areas,” called “a Paris in the West” (Lonely Planet). more »

This week, two of Denver’s most accomplished real estate executives will launch a new model for a full-service residential brokerage serving metro Denver. Leeann Iacino and Jack O’Connor, who led a group of agents to form Prestige Real Estate Group in 1999, will open the doors of Prestige Realty Services, from a headquarters in Inverness.
Jack O’Connor and Leeann Iacino at new offices in Inverness.

Prestige Realty Services, at 385 Inverness Parkway, is structured to attract medium-to-large production broker agents, who will be drawn by an exceptionally high level of technical, communications, and marketing support, as well as lower overhead fees, Iacino said. more »